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Original poster

To think dogs are unhygienic

218 replies

bottomsup12 · 18/02/2024 11:05

I know it sounds judgey but hear me out..

DH would love a dog and I do love the idea of having one when I see them out and about it seems really nice and fun having a dog as a companion. I absolutely love other people's dogs!

However when I get down to the nitty gritty of thinking about the actual reality of having a dog in the house it gives me the ick because...

  • I hate dog poo and I don't want to pick any of it up in the garden (DH says he will but I just know this will be slack and I'll end up stepping in it)
  • they're butts are just there out in the open and it will be sitting on the floor maybe even the furniture (have a baby so I don't want him crawling around where the dogs arse has been after a horrible dog poo!
  • I think they all smell bad! And I don't want me or the house to stink!
  • they lick everything on the floor outside and lick things in the house which makes me wince.
  • they obviously walk barefoot outside treading in all sorts of shit and the streets are filthy and they'd be walking all around the house and furniture with these gross dirty feet.
  • the hairs would be everywhere

I just can't get past all of that but I feel I am being unfair on DH who really wants one and grew up having them in the house

OP posts:
Flufferblub · 19/02/2024 02:48

How about just looking after some one else's dog sometimes? I joined borrow my doggy, and I'm going to be walking and looking after someone else's dog in the afternoons sometimes. It's like all the nice bits of a dog, without the responsibility, commitment or expense of owning one full time. Might be good for your partner to look into as a compromise.

FloofCloud · 19/02/2024 02:59

Brexile · 18/02/2024 11:09

YANBU. Dogs smell so gross, and I haven't even got a powerful sense of smell.

Not all dogs smell.

However OP it doesn't sound like it's something you actually want so give it good thought, maybe do a pro and con list

garlictwist · 19/02/2024 04:43

We looked after MIL'a dog last week and my god, the smell. I like the dog and it was fun but I couldn't live with that stink in my home all the time.

FixItUpChappie · 19/02/2024 05:03

I do find some dogs smelly and gross tbh but....our dog has very, very short hair, she cleans herself like a cat and does not drool very much - so breed makes a big difference. She doesn't smell aside from her breath if we don't brush her teeth. I do not allow our dog to poop and pee in our backyard which is probably not typical - the yard is for our kids to play and roll around in. So we take her for walks to do all her business. We have a blanket for her on the couch so we can wash it frequently. There is no perfect solution but overall, if you get the right breed and are able/willing to go for lots of walks every day - it can work.

rwalker · 19/02/2024 05:38

My sister was pressured into getting a dog absolutely hated it for same reasons as you had nothing to do with it wouldn’t acknowledge it stroke it or anything

fast forward 4 years I think if she had to choice she’d keep the dog and bin off husband and kids she adores it

Tigandgab · 19/02/2024 05:55

Agreed, they are hairy and smelly and slobbery, don't understand why anyone would want one.

Oblomov24 · 19/02/2024 06:24

We don't have a dog, but all like dogs. I agree that there is a smell from any dog, I can always tell if a household has a dog.

Noodge · 19/02/2024 07:21

I love my dog more than anything. She's a great guard (I live alone) and protector of me, I'd feel unsafe in life without her.

I have a small house. She's huge. It's okay. I run with her most days and walk her regularly. I have a garden. I work outside the home one day a week and pay someone to come and walk her and sit with her until about an hr before I'm home. I also pay the same person for dog hair removal/vacuuming and de-pooing the garden. Other days I walk her before work. Yes I'd sometimes prefer to stay in bed, but if I really wanted to I could just pay a dog walker instead.
She's hugely tying, I can't just nip off somewhere for the day, stay overnight anywhere or extend a few drinks into a night out without thinking ahead.
I have a hosepipe outside for muddy walks but inevitably some muck gets in the house. Fur everywhere but you can get non-shedding breeds. I've just got used to it 🤣
She was ill a few months ago, came down to diarrhoea and vomit everywhere. Lovely. I hate picking poo up. Hate it. But it has to be done.
Yes I agree OP don't get a dog. Any dog deserves total commitment and love from all other household members.

To think dogs are unhygienic
pokebowls · 19/02/2024 08:32

@Noodge your dog is gorgeous!!

brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr · 19/02/2024 08:39

Our neighbours got a dog, and it clawed through the plasterboard in their hallway. Delightful vandalism. When you knock at their door it goes apeshit and starts hooning around and jumps on you when they open the door, grim.

YeOldeGreyhound · 19/02/2024 11:57

Aaaiiieee · 18/02/2024 23:25

Dogs are fucking disgusting. Curling out a log then rimming themselves and then licking people.

It is not 'rimming', it is cleaning.
Anthropomorphising a dog and calling it's perfectly normal act of cleaning, a sexual one, is pretty disgusting.

GasPanic · 19/02/2024 12:24

Surely hygiene is a scale. It's not like you have a dog and suddenly become unhygienic. Just more unhygienic when you get the dog. I'm sure there are people out there who have pretty awful houses without having dogs and some people who have dogs whose houses are relatively germ free (considering they have a dog anyway).

Dogs are of course germ ridden and its hard to stop them doing dog type things that make them germ ridden. I've watched dogs eat crap. Then presumably they go and slobber over carpets and lick people. That is obviously not high up there on the hygiene scale. Along with various other stuff that comes with having them. So if you are not OK with that, probably best not to have a dog.

Noodge · 19/02/2024 21:08

Noodge · 19/02/2024 07:21

I love my dog more than anything. She's a great guard (I live alone) and protector of me, I'd feel unsafe in life without her.

I have a small house. She's huge. It's okay. I run with her most days and walk her regularly. I have a garden. I work outside the home one day a week and pay someone to come and walk her and sit with her until about an hr before I'm home. I also pay the same person for dog hair removal/vacuuming and de-pooing the garden. Other days I walk her before work. Yes I'd sometimes prefer to stay in bed, but if I really wanted to I could just pay a dog walker instead.
She's hugely tying, I can't just nip off somewhere for the day, stay overnight anywhere or extend a few drinks into a night out without thinking ahead.
I have a hosepipe outside for muddy walks but inevitably some muck gets in the house. Fur everywhere but you can get non-shedding breeds. I've just got used to it 🤣
She was ill a few months ago, came down to diarrhoea and vomit everywhere. Lovely. I hate picking poo up. Hate it. But it has to be done.
Yes I agree OP don't get a dog. Any dog deserves total commitment and love from all other household members.

@pokebowls thank you (I don't know why I thank people in that way, as if I gave birth to her or something)🤣 she is a beautiful dog, despite being a mutt. She's saved my skin many times (being followed at night for example). I can't fault her.

But as for the OP, dogs are a huge commitment and absolutely not for everyone.

Bryonny84 · 19/02/2024 21:13

I've got a man and a dog. The man is more unhygienic. If you don't want a dog though don't get one because you know you'll end up looking after it. Hair, smells, cleaning up dog poo, scratches on the furniture/wood floors, barking, taking over the bed/settee, walking it in all weatheres. You know how it will go. Unless you love dogs (as I do), don't do it.

Noodge · 19/02/2024 22:26

@YeOldeGreyhound Quite. One of my family is a science lecturer. She did an experiment once where they tested the bacteria growth with dog, cat and human saliva samples.

Dog's by far contained the least bacteria. Cat was the worst. I'm seldom ill and I've had Dogs for the large majority of my life. I don't like dogs (or any animal including humans) licking me especially it ruins my make-up but I wouldn't clutch my pearls about it.

We're too precious sometimes. We didn't get this far as a species by being terrified of bugs/bacteria/generally.

user1470899178 · 19/02/2024 22:50

Dogs are amazing. Kids are just as unhygienic!

rwalker · 20/02/2024 05:38

user1470899178 · 19/02/2024 22:50

Dogs are amazing. Kids are just as unhygienic!

Kids don’t lick there arse then lick your hands and face

kids don’t have a shit not wipe and then put there bare hoop on your furniture, bedding and carpets

FarEastofRussia · 20/02/2024 06:25

Let's be honest you are not a dog person. Dogs are all of those things and need homes where they are accepted and loved for who they are. I have always had dogs but none of the things you have described have ever bothered me at all, they give so so much more than they take in life. But they need and deserve kindness, love and acceptance - not just tolerance for the sake of a bit of companionship.

getitgotitgood · 20/02/2024 06:35

Children clearly still in nappies plonked in the basket part of a shopping trolley (not the actual seat part, the designated sitting bit) is unhygienic

Flidina · 20/02/2024 06:47

I used to be a person who disliked dogs, because I thought they were dirty and smelly. My family were desperate for a dog, and talked me round, I negotiated for the smallest dog! 🤣, a chihuahua. I completely under estimated, how much I would grow to love this dog, granted he's short haired and his poos are tiny! He's very well behaved, and groomed regularly. I'd hate to think I'd missed out by not having him in my life, because I was so anti dog.

FeliciteFaff · 20/02/2024 06:53

Dog owner here. She is right and IS ALLOWED to say all these things. I agree with her, she won’t be able to cope. We got our rescues after falling in love with them. I’m germ conscious and we also
wash our hands after touching the dogs, don’t allow them to lick faces, wash their feet after walks and towel dry and also we wash our dogs and trims hair nails ourselves. They smell very little if properly cared for but two of us have developed asthma because of the hairs. We love them and it’s a commitment. Not for everyone. OP is very reasonable and quite sensible. Not sure about the women and men getting their backs up in the comments, unnecessarily mean comments.

TheDowagerDoughnut · 20/02/2024 06:58

In the end, OP, you go a bit nose blind so only the extra stinky stuff gets to you.

Not sure if that helps? Grin

bastin · 20/02/2024 07:00

I was told recently that dogs eat dog shit

I was sick in my mouth instantly

FindingMeno · 20/02/2024 07:04

I would advise you don't get a dog.
They are mingers, the lot of them.
From eating cat shit, to rolling in fox shit, to coming home to finding a shitnado diarrhoea explosion everywhere.....

Countrylife2002 · 20/02/2024 07:07

bastin · 20/02/2024 07:00

I was told recently that dogs eat dog shit

I was sick in my mouth instantly

Yep mine eats cat and fox poo.

They are revolting 😁